Browse lesson plans

Arctic animals

This is a whole language lesson for Speech Language Pathologists incorporating listening comprehension, categorizing, following verbal directions, and basic vocabulary and language concepts for First grade students.

Format: lesson plan (grade 1 English Language Arts and Science)

By Susan Ayers.

Career vocabulary

In CareerStart lessons: Grade seven, page 1.1

In this lesson for grade seven, students will become familiar with vocabulary related to careers.

Format: lesson plan (grade 6–8 English Language Arts and Guidance)

By Anissia Jenkins.Adapted by Kenyatta Bennett and Sonya Rexrode.

Defining career vocabulary

In CareerStart lessons: Grade eight, page 1.6

In this lesson, students learn vocabulary terms associated with careers.

Format: lesson plan (grade 8 English Language Arts)

By Andrea Fedon, Gail Frank, and Cindy Neininger.

"Do Spiders Live on the World Wide Web?"

Through use of a fun and informative online story, students will explore the parts of the computer, as well as discover that words have multiple meanings.

Format: lesson plan (grade K Computer/Technology Skills, English Language Arts, and Information Skills)

Fairy tales

This lesson will begin a unit on fairy tales for young learners. It will begin with assessing what first graders know about fairy tales. Children will learn about the original version of The Three Little Pigs.

Format: lesson plan (grade 1 English Language Arts and English Language Development)

By Audra Penrod and Vivian Lages.

Flying high with hot air balloons!

This lesson plan, written for the Novice High Second Language Student, uses the historical fiction book The Big Balloon Race by Eleanor Coerr, to reinforce basic vocabulary and introduce new vocabulary while tying into many community sponsored hot air balloon events held in the fall.

Format: lesson plan (grade 6 English Language Arts and English Language Development)

By Barbara Boal.

Hear it, spell it, see it!

This is an activity to help children develop visual recognition of basic sight word vocabulary at the kindergarten level. The words covered are: I, am, can, like, it, and is. This is a simple, quick activity that adds a new dimension to sight word building with the help of the computer.

Format: lesson plan (grade K–1 English Language Arts)

By Vickie Hedrick.

Learn new words using context

With guided practice students will use context clues to determine meaning of unfamiliar words in short passages. When students have completed the practice activities, they will read a newspaper or magazine article, picking out unfamiliar words and using context clues to decide what the word means. As a group activity they will share the article, the words, and their meanings with the class.

Format: lesson plan (grade 4–8 English Language Arts)

By Betty DeLuca.

Rest in peace, dead words!

“Dead words,” by my definition, are words students “use to death” in their writing samples. As Language Arts teachers, we can generate a list of such words a mile long. Examples would include: pretty, nice, bad, a lot, and good. This cooperative learning activity is designed to eliminate those repetitious words by providing students with a word bank/wall they can refer to when given a writing assignment.

Format: lesson plan (grade 7 English Language Arts)

By Cynthia Cook.

Synonym word bags

The purpose of Word Bags is to give students a resource for finding synonyms for overused words that they use in their writing on a daily basis. Students will fill Word Bags with synonyms for frequently used words.

Format: lesson plan (grade 3–4 English Language Arts)

By DPI Writing Strategies.

Turtles are terrific

This lesson will engage the students in the study of turtle attributes and their habitats. The lesson will integrate science, math, language arts and computer/technology curriculums.

Format: lesson plan (grade K–1 Science)

Understanding vocabulary in their own terms

This lesson focuses on vocabulary development. Students will work together in small groups to identify at least three to four unknown vocabulary words in a given passage. Vocabulary meanings will be learned through contextual means, previous knowledge and dictionary use. Students will then find a relevant way to illustrate the meaning of the word so that others can understand easily.

Format: lesson plan (grade 4–5 English Language Arts)

By Christa Schneider.

Vocabulary surprise

This lesson focuses on prediction skills and vocabulary development. Students predict what is in a box from information they are given. In order to determine the contents of the box, vocabulary must be deciphered through contextual meaning. The activity idea could be used in all areas with a few modifications. Science would be easily integrated. Cooperative learning is also used.

Format: lesson plan (grade 5 English Language Arts)

By Jennifer J. Murphy.

What do you see?

This lesson is designed to teach color vocabulary and some basic animal names to novice level ESL students in grades 1-2 using Bill Martin's Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you See?

Format: lesson plan (grade 1–2 English Language Arts)

By Cindy Young.

Word bank

The Word Bank provides students with a classroom resource for "researching" the correct spelling of words that students want or need to use in their writing on a daily basis.

Format: lesson plan (grade 2–3 English Language Arts)

By DPI Writing Strategies.

Word closet

Word Closets give students an additional classroom resource for “researching” the correct spelling of words to use in their daily writing. Word Closets are particularly focused toward concept words, season words, and favorite words that students like to use in their writing but may need help with spelling.

Format: lesson plan (grade 2–4 English Language Arts)

By DPI Writing Strategies.

Resources on the web

3, 2, 1...Blast off! Vocabulary instruction using a virtual trip to the moon

Students begin this lesson by activating prior knowledge about the moon through an initial writing activity. After the teacher has posted all ideas, students are engaged in discussions, read-alouds, and the creation of a picture dictionary that shows the... (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade K–2 English Language Arts)

Provided by: ReadWriteThink

Acquiring new vocabulary through book discussion groups

This ReadWriteThink lesson explores various ways in which the teacher can foster students' vocabulary skills through direct instruction and small-group discussions. While reading the text Pink and Say by Patricia Polacco, students identify... (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 3–5 English Language Arts)

Provided by: ReadWriteThink

Action ABC's: Learning vocabulary with verbs

In this lesson that reviews the definition of a verb, teachers engage students in introductory game that activates prior knowledge about parts of speech. Students work in collaborative groups to make lists of verbs that begin with each letter from the alphabet.... (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade K–1 English Language Arts)

Provided by: ReadWriteThink

Active Reading Using The Enormous Watermelon

The teacher engages students in an activity to show them how to identify the main character in a text. While reading rebus versions of nursery rhymes online several times, students search for the main character. Following this activity, students identify... (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade K–2 English Language Arts)

Provided by: ReadWriteThink